Control of European Foulbrood caused by Streptococcus pluton susceptible to oxytetracycline

200 mg/colony

See Mixing Directions below

Warning: Remove at least 6 weeks prior to main honey flow.

Mixing And Use Directions For Honey Bees

Due to the high drug concentration of this product, an intermediate mixture must be prepared for use in bees. To prepare this intermediate mixture add 7 lb of Terramycin 100MR to 200 lb of powdered sugar and mix well. This mixture contains approximately 200 mg of oxytetracycline hydrochloride activity per oz.

Dusting Directions: Apply 1 oz (200 mg oxytetracycline) of this mixture per colony. Apply the dust on the outer parts or ends of the frames.

Syrup Directions: Use 1 oz (200 mg oxytetracycline) of this mixture per 5 lb jar containing 1:1 sugar syrup (equal parts sugar and water w/w) per colony. Dissolve in a small quantity of water before adding to syrup. Bulk feed the syrup using feeder pails or division board feeders or by filling the combs. Prepare fresh syrup for each application.

Administer in 3 applications of sugar syrup or 3 dustings at 4- to 5-day intervals. The drug should be fed in the spring or fall and consumed by the bees before main honey flow begins to avoid contamination of production honey.

Extender Patty Directions: Use 4 oz (800 mg oxytetracycline) of this mixture mixed with 165 g of vegetable shortening (Crisco® or equivalent) and 330 g of sugar. The patties are placed on the top bars of the brood nest frames.

Contraindication: Dusting of uncapped brood cells has been reported to cause death of larval honey bees. Do not dust uncapped brood cells.

WARNING: This mixture should be fed in the spring or autumn and consumed by the bees before main honey flow begins to avoid contamination of production honey. Honey stored during medication periods in combs for surplus honey should be removed following final medication of the bee colony and must not be used for human food. Honey from bee colonies likely to be infected with foulbrood should not be used for preparation of medicated syrup supplements since it may be contaminated with spores of foulbrood and may result in spreading the disease. Remove at least 6 weeks before main honey flow._________________.
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A little garden in Co. Limerick.Some non-gardening photographs.

European foulbrood (abbreviated EFB) is a bacterial disease that effects honey bee larvae before the capped stage.The causative bacteria, Melissococcus plutonius is ingested by honey bee larvae after which the bacterium competes for food inside the larvae.
Anyway all is not as it seems with the media report, I might know a little more as I move in similar circles paper never refused ink. Big brother might be watching????
I will let you know the real story if your interested soon as he cannot say much because he will be in contempt of court but others can say what they like.

Over recent months we have been going through a legal process concerning the useage of oxytetracycline for the treatment of European Foulbrood in our bees during the late summer of 2009.

Earlier that summer an outbreak of European Foulbrood (henceforth referred to as EFB), rarely seen in Scotland prior to this, was diagnosed, initially in our bees in co-operation with a locally based bee inspector, for which the Scottish bee industry and the Scottish government were completely unprepared. Upon fuller investigation it was found to already be a deep seated and widely distributed problem in much of the professional sector in eastern Scotland. That it was first discovered in our bees has no bearing on the source, which remains unknown. The outbreak had the potential to decimate the bee industry.

There was no full time government inspection service and no preparedness in place for such an unanticipated event, but the Scottish government quickly put together a team from a standing start to address the problem. This was all done with the full co-operation of the bee industry as this was a huge crisis and required all to be pulling together to prevent the destruction of the professional bee sector and probable eventual spread into all sectors.

At all times during this event we played a leading role in this co-operation, and assisted in the government in development of a plan to contain the spread of the disease and to provide temporary medically aided protection pending a proper assessment, in anticipation it would take until spring 2010 for a full assessment of colonies to be undertaken. The problem was so large, and the state of preparedness so poor, that it was impossible to deal with it all in the relatively brief window that was available to us in 2009. (In explanation, July and August are months when heather honey is being produced. It is crucial that no antibiotic is applied to bees at that time to prevent it entering the human food chain, so treatment could only be done in September and October, before winter conditions set in and the bees cannot be effectively treated or even diagnosed.)

The options available were destruction of symptomatic colonies, or treatment with oxytetracycline to keep it under control until the situation was clearer. (It was too late in the year for successful shook swarming.)

The National Bee Unit website also specifies oxytetracycline, in the formulation Terramycin, as the medical treatment for control of EFB.

From the moment it was agreed that a full programme of oxytetracycline treatment would be applied we had concerns about timing. The medication was to be provided through the government inspectorate, who were doing their absolute best, but their team was still acquiring expertise and we had a fear the supply would be delayed. So, with it being agreed that oxytetracycline would be used for temporary protection during the outbreak, we took the step of ordering in a private supply, for use in the event the official supply would be delayed. (The practicalities of performing three treatments per colony, which is the correct way it is done, on the largest bee farm in the UK, meant we needed the full 8 week window to do it.) If we had NOT ordered it, and the official supply was delayed, we would have faced the possible loss of most of our bees. It would be too late to do anything about it once the delay was actually happening, so it was ordered, initially as a precaution. We ordered the correct recommended product, but did so without going through all the proper protocols. We had already had to burn 169 colonies of our bees, the problem was spreading rapidly, and had to do our very best to save the rest. To NOT be prepared for such an eventuality would have been a dereliction of my duty to protect the bees.

The product sourced was Terramycin, which is a brand name for oxytetracycline.

This was not a secret, it was widely known we had done this, and we were at all times open about it.
By September the official supply had not appeared, and so we initiated our treatment using the privately sourced product, mixed and administered at exactly the same strength and dosage and in the identical manner to the agreed method for the supplied product, on which we all received official training.

As soon as the official supply arrived (part way through September) we moved over to that product and never used the private product again.

This was an officially sanctioned treatment using oxytetracycline, a recommended treatment for EFB. What we used was no different.

Despite press reports to the contrary this is NOT a banned medication. The status is rather that it does not have a specific approval for general use on bees but CAN be used for EFB if prescribed. Oxytetracycline WAS prescribed for this case.

Mr McGregor plead guilty to the offence of importing (from the USA) a supply of Terramycin, to possessing it for a period of time, and to using it for the initial part of the treatment programme, all without a proper licence to source the product. This much is not something we seek to deny and were completely open about it at all times and gave those investigating the matter all the information they asked for.

At no time did any OTC enter the food chain. All our honey is tested multiple times and there has never been a problem with anything we have supplied, despite misleading initial press reports.

There are also reports describing Mr. McGregor as the ‘Royal beekeeper’. This is not the case. He has never been such a person. He was fortunate enough to have the privilege of being allowed to place hives on Royal estates from the mid 1980s onwards. At no time has he ever described himself as the Royal beekeeper and indeed it is completely inaccurate to do so. He sincerely hopes the erroneous reporting has not caused embarrassment to the Royal family or anyone connected with it.

We would like to conclude by putting on record our gratitude and appreciation for the effort that all those on the official side in Scotland have made to help see the industry through these critical years. From Cabinet secretary downwards to the field inspectorate we have had nothing but help and support. Appreciation also to the brilliant team at SASA for the rapid way they adapted to the wave of samples that headed their way. We also would like to thank my colleagues elsewhere in the UK for their *universal* support, and to the Bee Farmers Association for all their help, and to the many non-Scottish bee inspectors and former bee inspectors who have been good friends and offered formal and informal support through this whole event.

I think it was a bit harsh too, he was going to get to use the chemical anyway but bureaucracy can be a bit slow, I think the big thing that went against him was the facts that he did not keep records of it. In Ireland you can use Apibioxal, Apiguard and MAQS and you must keep records for 5 years of chemicals used in case of inspection, but there are No bee inspectors in the republic of Ireland and nobody in the Dept of Ag has any interest in bees so the chances of being caught in Ireland are negligible if you used something illegal. Most things can be bought on the internet and there is no tractability. In Ireland both American foul brood and European Foul brood are notifiable diseases but sure half the beekeepers would not recognize it if you showed it to them, it has to be sent off for testing and most beekeepers never bother with testing either their bees or comb. There is probably a lot more of it in Ireland than people know, if found the only solution is to destroy the bees and burn the equipment. that is €250 for a hive of bees €200 for the hive and supers not to mention the suit, do you really think people will admit they have it and destroy all that gear. Me thinks not, but that is only my opinion.

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